Lesson #12: Starting with Arpeggio Rhythms

Transcription

1 : Starting with Arpeggio Rhythms Now, you begin the third part of Fingerpicking Tricks, where you dive into a style of fingerpicking on the ukulele called fingerstyle. Fingerstyle differs from the rhythmic fingerpicking patterns you learned in Part II in that fingerstyle songs are only fingerpicked there is no singing in fingerstyle. As it pertains to the ukulele, most fingerstyle arrangements are based on old classical and Spanish guitar songs by famous composers like Francisco Tárrega, Dionisio Agaudo, Fernando Sor, and Matteo Carcassi. In this Part III of Fingerpicking Tricks, I show you a kind of fingerstyle that relies solely on repeating fingerpicking patterns called arpeggios. Arpeggios have a very rewarding sound to them that is expressive and intricate-sounding. Throughout this part, you learn how to play five different songs from the classical and romantic music eras (18th and 19th century) from famous and renowned composers like Francesco Tárrega and Dionisio Aguado using arpeggio fingerstyle rhythms and patterns. In this lesson, learn: How to fingerpick a simple, sixteenth-note arpeggio pattern A handful of arpeggio practice patterns How to fingerpick Aguado s Op. 6, no. 19 Introduction to Arpeggios Don t let the fancy talk of arpeggios and playing old classical and romantic guitar music on the ukulele intimidate you! Arpeggios aren t too different from the fingerpicking patterns you learned in Part II of Fingerpicking Tricks. Take a look at this first arpeggio rhythm you learn: 1

2 A couple things to note about this arpeggio: 1. The arpeggio is played on the bottom three strings of the ukulele. 2. Play the arpeggio to a count of four. The arpeggio is subdivided into sixteenth notes, so you count the pattern: 1 ee and uh, 2 ee and uh, 3 ee and uh, 4 ee and uh. 3. To play this pattern, use your thumb (represented by a p) to pluck the C- string, index finger (represented by an i) to pluck the E-string and middle finger (represented by an m) to pluck the A-string. As you practice this arpeggio, let each string ring out as long as possible before plucking the string again. Think about making each pluck as even as possible. For now, don t worry about playing at blazing fast speeds. That will come with time and practice. At first, go slow, and focus on being as consistent as possible. Aim to make each pluck as even as the others. There should not be a significant difference in volume and tone between each note you pluck. When you re ready, throw in some chord changes to practice this arpeggio: 2

3 Arpeggio Practice Patterns In this lesson, practice arpeggio patterns that just make use of your thumb, index and middle fingers. The following arpeggios are just played over a C chord, but for practice, write out your own chord progressions and practice changing between those chords while practicing these arpeggios. Practice Arpeggio #1 Practice Arpeggio #2 Practice Arpeggio #3 3

4 Play Aguado s Op. 6, no. 19 For the most part, simple, old classical and romantic guitar music that is based around arpeggios can be played on the bottom three strings of the ukulele. Dionisio Aguado composed a lot of short guitar exercises called études, meaing exercises, that focus on arpeggio technique. Études are a great place to focus since these short songs are often simple but sound elaborate and complex because of the arpeggio pattern used in combination with the chords. The greatest composers of all time recognized that one of the best ways to improve your skills as a fingerpicker was to start playing actual pieces of music. Often times, early guitar composers had written hundreds upon hundreds of pieces. To organize their music, they put their pieces in opuses a set or collection of works. The following piece you learn by Dionisio Aguado is found in his sixth opus, and it s the nineteenth piece in the opus. How to Learn Aguado s Op. 6, no. 19 If you aren t familiar with sheet music, it can be intimidating when you first look at a piece like this (flip a couple pages ahead to see the music for this piece). No need to be scared by all the ink on the page. Let s break it down and make it easier to understand. There are two main lines or staffs of music. In the top staff, you see the actual notes that are played in standard music notation. In the bottom staff, where you ll focus primarily, you see the tab indicating the frets on which strings you press to play the notes on the top staff. If you need refreshed on the ins and outs of reading ukulele tab, review Lesson #3. When I approach a new piece of music that is based on an arpeggio rhythm, I make it easier by following these steps: 1. Learn the arpeggio pattern. The piece uses an arpeggio pattern that repeats through the entire piece. First learn the arpeggio rhythm by just repeating and playing the first measure of the piece. 2. Practice the fretting hand finger positions. Next, go through each measure of the tab (second line) and practice positioning your fingers to play the notes indicated in the tab. The numbers (1-4) written above or 4

5 below the notes on the top music staff (first line) are used to more clearly specify the finger position in your fretting hand: the number 1 represents the index finger, number 2 the middle finger, number 3 the ring finger and number 4 the little finger. See measures 3 and 15 in this piece for an example of this fretting hand notation. 3. Take it slow measure by measure. When you ve practiced the arpeggio pattern and have an idea of the finger positions that are required from your fretting hand, start practicing the song a couple measures at a time at a slow tempo. At least for me, when it comes to learning fingerstyle pieces like this, they take a lot longer for me to learn because of the seemingly unordinary chord positions. It takes time and practice to get these changes to be seamless and smooth. Most of all, be patient. Pieces like this require a lot of determination and willingness to put forth the effort and practice. At the same time, when it all starts coming together, you ll find that this piece is very rewarding and impressive to play for your friends and family. 5

6 6 Part III: Arpeggio-based Fingerstyle

7 Practice Objectives Take your time with this lesson and focus on the following: 1. Practice the four sixteenth note arpeggio patterns in this lesson 2. Write out chord changes to practice the arpeggio patterns 3. Learn and play Aguado s Op. 6, no. 19 When you re ready, jump over to the next lesson to look at some more exciting arpeggio rhythms and another beautiful-sounding piece. 7